Conspiracy
by Sulietisbae
Summary: When evidence in a murder investigation points the team in a totally different direction, Calleigh and Eric go all the way to Minneapolis for further investigation. Horatio makes sure they have acces to a private plane to fly them back, but once they take off, the plane crashes somewhere in an unpopulated area in the North-American forest. An accident or intentional? EC
1. Prologue

A/N: Hi guys! So this is my first ever story and although I don't even know if csi miami stories are still being read (except by me) I got inspired and felt the need to write my own csi miami fanfic bc i still adore this show so much! I didn't really thought this story through yet and since I'm not even sure people will read it, we'll just see where this goes. Enjoy!

Btw, I'm dutch so don't expect the super fancy Cambridge kind of English hahaha

Ps. Still gotta find out how the writing part of this app works.

 **Summary: When evidence in a murder investigation points the team in a totally different direction, Calleigh and Eric go all the way to Minneapolis for further investigation. Horatio makes sure they have acces to a private plane to fly them back, but once they take off, the plane crashes somewhere in an unpopulated aria in the North-American forest. An accident or intentional?**

'Eric! The pilot' Calleigh yelled while the small plane made its way to the ground. Somehow Eric managed to get to the front of the plane and put two fingers in the unconscious pilots neck. Eric tried to concentrate but he couldn't find the steady beating that was supposed te be there. 'I can't find a pulse!' He yelled back, while he grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it towards him in a lame attempt to stop the plane from getting closer to the dense forest below them. Calleigh once again buckled her seatbelt and ordered Eric to do the same, which of course he didn't. At this point, his biggest concern was getting this plane to stop from smashing them to death. He had never flew a plane before and he knew that Calleigh was fully aware of that but he could at least try. The ground came closer and closer and Eric could hear Calleigh scream his name. The last thing the did was fold his body into a fetus position before the world around him went black.


	2. 1 Case closed

**A/N: So here's chapter one! Also, this story is set around s9 so Eric and Calleigh have been in a relationship but aren't anymore. Well, not right now at least ;)**

'Case closed,' Calleigh said smiling, looking at Steve while two officers from the Minneapolis police department forcefully took him away.

'There's absolutely no way he didn't do it, all the evidence points to him,' she said, while she glanced at the bloody knife in the sealed evidence bag.

'I agree, MPD contacted H and Steve will soon be transferred to Miami for the trial.' Eric said. He looked at Calleigh. 'And we can finally go home.'

Four days of hard work and lack of sleep had really taken its toll on the two CSI's. Although they were used to working hard and making long days, this case was pretty intense and they were both really glad that it finally seemed to be over. Back in Miami, a 23 years old girl named Melissa Waters had been stabbed to death in her apartment. Although there were a few suspects in the area, there was no concrete evidence against them. Then the CSI's found out about her past life in Minnesota, where her family and ex-boyfriend Steve Brown still lived. Some of the ex-boyfriends DNA was found on Melissa's body, but it turned out that they broke up just a few months ago and some of Melissa's neighbors confirmed to have seen him visiting her a few times since. His DNA was found in multiple places in the house so it could've easily been second transfer.

Nonetheless, Horatio decided that it was best to pay Steve a visit and talk to Melissa's parents face to face so Calleigh and Eric flew over to Minneapolis for further investigation.

Once they got there, the parents testified that Melissa was afraid of Steve and that he was the reason she moved to Miami after they broke up. She wanted to get rid of him and start over but he started stalking her. This information, combined with his DNA all over the crime scene seemed like enough motive to the CSI's. Calleigh and Eric went to talk to him, but he wasn't at his house. They obtained a warrant to search his property and went back to his house the next day. He still wasn't there but this time they didn't bother waiting. They started looking for anything that could pin him to this murder and about an hour later Steve came home to the two CSI's going through his stuff. Eric explained the situation to him and went to take his testimony while Calleigh kept searching. Oddly enough, Steve didn't seem to have any problem with the two crime scene investigators digging through his personal belongings. His alibi seemed to check out and Calleigh couldn't find any evidence in his house. Still, they didn't trust him and the CSI's were about to leave when Eric got the brilliant idea to check Steve's car.

This he didn't like at all. The moment they asked him for the keys he started getting violent and he tried to punch Delko is his stomach in which he failed. Calleigh checked the car while Eric got Steve pinned to the ground and after a few minutes she came back with a satisfied smile and a bloody knife in an evidence bag.

They called the Minneapolis police department for backup and since Steve was about to be transferred to Miami anyway, Calleigh and Eric took the evidence with them to save a lot of time and trouble.

'We need to be in hangar 434,' Calleigh exclaimed, while she and Eric walked through the noisy crowd at the busy airport, heading for their private plane. Both tired and really glad Horatio made sure they would have a restful flight home.

It took them just about 15 minutes to find their destination. A small hangar with a four-seats private jet parked in the middle. Not the luxurious million dollar kind of private jet, but absolutely comfortable nonetheless.

A bald and friendly looking guy appeared from behind the plane and approached the two CSI's. Calleigh estimated he must be about 60 years old. 'My name is Richard Baker, lieutenant Caine assigned me to safely deliver you two back to Miami,' he said with a heavily southern accent.

'Calleigh Duquesne,' Calleigh introduced herself, shaking his hand.

'Eric Delko,' Eric repeated Calleigh's gesture.

Richard smiled warmly, 'take a seat and make yourselves comfortable, I'll put your suitcases in the luggage compartment. We'll take off in about ten minutes.'

The two thanked him and boarded the small plane. The inside looked just as you would expect it to look from the outside. Four seats in pairs of two facing each other with a table in between. The walls were covered in a warm creamy color with four windows on each side. There was enough room to move around a bit and in the middle there was even enough space to stand upright, although Eric might be just too tall. A small toilet was located in the back and thin wall with a large glass less window in the middle separated the passenger section from the cockpit.

Calleigh claimed the two seats facing the front and Eric sat down on the seat across from her.

A few minutes later, Richard took place in the cockpit, preparing the plane for takeoff. Once the motor started running he turned around and faced the two CSI's, 'the flight will take about 6 hours,' he exclaimed, 'got some snacks and a minibar in the back, relax and make yourselves comfortable.' He turned around again and the plane started driving towards the exit of the hangar.

Calleigh wiggled her perfectly shaped eyebrows, 'a minibar, H has outdone himself this time.'

About an hour later, the light shaking of the plane woke Calleigh up. The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes were two deep brown eyes looking at her. 'You're cute when you sleep,' Eric smirked. Just when Calleigh wanted to throw a cheeky comeback at him the plane lowered a couple of meters. Calleigh jumped from the sudden movement which put an amused grin around Eric's mouth, 'relax Cal, it's probably just turbulence,' he told her, but Calleigh wasn't reassured at all. 'Richard?' She asked.

No answer.

'Richard?' She asked again, the concern now shown on her face.

The moment Eric turned his head around the plane lowered another 10 meters and stayed still for two seconds before it dropped towards the earth beneath them. Eric realized what had happened just the moment Calleigh exclaimed it.

'Eric! The pilot' Calleigh yelled while the small plane made its way to the ground. Somehow Eric managed to get to the front of the plane and put two fingers in the unconscious pilots neck. Eric tried to concentrate but he couldn't find the steady beating that was supposed to be there. 'I can't find a pulse!' He yelled back, while he grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it towards him in a lame attempt to stop the plane from getting closer to the dense forest below them. Calleigh once again buckled her seatbelt and ordered Eric to do the same, which of course he didn't. At this point, his biggest concern was getting this plane to stop from smashing them to death. He had never flew a plane before and he knew that Calleigh was fully aware of that but he could at least try. The ground came closer and closer and Eric could hear Calleigh scream his name. The last thing the did was fold his body into a fetus position before the world around him went black.

 **A/N: sooo, what do you think? Good start? And also, how should I be able to see if people read this bc I seriously dont get this app hahaha**

 **Anyways, Please RR Cuz I have no idea what I'm doing and I'd love to hear your feedback!**


	3. 2 The Crash

**So here's chapter two! Thanks a lot to TrishOrton for being my first ever reviewer!**

 **So yeah I couldn't stop writing and I sure couldn't resist publishing this right away ;)**

A dull, throbbing pain was the only thing that seemed to exist in this world.

A dull, throbbing pain surrounded by darkness. 'What had happened?' his mind wondered, but he couldn't figure it out. In the back of his head, he knew there must be more. There must be so much more than the darkness surrounding him, but he couldn't reach it. He didn't know how. As the pain got worse, his thoughts became more foggy. He tried to fight it but the darkness seemed to overpower him and just as he was about to surrender, there was light. A modest illuminated spot in the endless black scenery. He immediately felt its warmth and attraction and tried to reach for the nameless though familiar light which seemed to reduce his pain. He was certain he knew its source but he just couldn't wrap his head around it. Suddenly, a blurred sound ascended from somewhere. He couldn't quite place it, it seemed to be all around him and at the same time coming from the illuminated spot which was also located 'somewhere'. But where was it? Where was he? Slowly, the sound distorted into something more concrete and he realized it was a voice, but not just any voice, Calleigh's voice. Repeating his name over and over again. 'Eric?'All of the sudden it struck him. The plane! The accident! Calleigh!The dim light increased and with all his strength Eric opened his eyes.

He immediately regretted his decision. Once he opened them, the bright light surrounding him pierced right through his brain. His head was pounding and he closed his eyelids again while he grabbed both sides of his head with his hands, a slight groan escaping from his mouth.

'Eric?'

For a moment all his mind wanted was to go back to the darkness, where his pain was just half as horrible as it was now. At that moment he realized what he had opened his eyes for in the first place and to make sure his reason was still there he opened them again. Ignoring the pounding headache his eyes needed a second to adjust to the bright light, but once they did the first thing he saw where two concerned emerald pools looking at him.

'Jesus Christ, you scared the living hell outta me,' the blonde ballistics expert exclaimed with a relieved sigh.

'Cal you're okay?' He asked. His immediate concern almost making him forget his own pain. Calleigh chuckled lightly, 'really? You've just woken up from a plane crash with a hole in your head and you're asking me if I'm okay?' Eric brought a hand to his head and when he looked at it he noticed the blood on his fingertips. 'Relax, it isn't that deep,' she said, incredibly glad he's as good as okay.

Slowly, Eric got aware of his environment and he realized the two CSI's were surrounded by an endless load of trees. A few meters behind Calleigh lay what was left of their plane. He recalled the last images from before the crash in his mind and realized they had basically been flying above a huge forest for who knows how long. He looked up at Calleigh, 'Richard?'

Calleigh looked down and shook her head. No words were needed, Eric understood the gesture. He noticed his headache was slowly decreasing and automatically started going over all their possibilities in his head. What's the first thing you should do when your plane crashes somewhere in a forest?

The petite blonde tried to follow his line of thought, attentively studying his facial expression. Somehow she could guess what he was thinking about, she simply knew her colleague too well. 'I'm pretty positive Richard had a radio,' she said, slightly smiling. Electronics were never her expertise. They were Erics area and she was well aware of that. The tanned cuban immediately looked her in the eyes and a grin appeared on his face, 'you knew exactly what I was trying to figure out didn't ya?' Calleigh nodded and stood up from their spot on the ground offering him a hand, still smiling at him.

Eric got up and the two walked over to the plane wreck. Although his head still hurt, he was determined to get the radio working. And besides, if his wound were too bad, Calleigh wouldn't have let him move from his previous spot anyway. The blonde decided to check what was left of their luggage, since the whole luggage compartment appeared to have survived the crash, while her partner inspected the radio in the front.

About five minutes later, while Calleigh was busy unloading their bags, Eric got out of the cockpit and walked over to her with a defeated and slightly angry expression displayed on his face. 'The radio is dead.' He exclaimed right away, his expression getting darker, 'and it wasn't caused by the crash.' Calleigh looked up, slightly confused, 'what do you mean?'

'I wonder what other defects we would encounter if we started looking,' he growled.

'Eric what are you talking about?'

He sighed, 'the radio was sabotaged and I bet so was the plane.'

'What?' Calleigh's expression went from confused to shocked. 'How can you be certain?' Eric sighed again, 'because a crash doesn't cause wires to cut themselves through, especially not when they're safely tucked away in a panel,' he said, sounding more annoyed than he meant to.

'Eric, what does this mean?' The blonde CSI asked, although she could already suspect the answer.

His deep brown eyes met her emerald gaze again as he spoke the words that were on both their minds. 'Firstly this means that no one knows where we are and secondly...' He paused for a short moment before Calleigh finished his sentence.

'Someone wants us dead.'


	4. 3 Motive

**Thanks so much for the reviews! they really made my week a lot better!**

 **I'll try to publish at least 1-2 times a week, but since I suck at keeping my promises when it comes to uploading, I'm not gonna promise anything ;) I also got exams this week and since English is not my native language it takes me quite some time to write a single chapter (perfectionist). I really enjoy to write this though so i'll try to publish each chapter as fast as possible! :D**

After an hour of consultation, both CSI's agreed on the fact that they were limited to exactly two options. They could either stay with the plane wreck or leave and try to find civilization. Both options contained their own pros and cons and were presumably equally dangerous. The first (and in most plane crash cases the most wise) option would have given them the highest chance of being found if their radio had still worked. But since this wasn't the case, this option simply meant waiting for either people who had the intention of rescuing them, or people who most likely had the intention of killing them. This could take ages and besides, Calleigh and Eric weren't exactly the kind of people to sit and wait.

However, their second option brought its own risks. Firstly, they had absolutely no clue where they were stranded. They had no idea which air route their plane had followed and for all they knew the closest residence could be hundreds of miles away. Nonetheless, the odds of them finding civilization if they would go searching for it were still bigger than someone finding them first, unless someone was aware of their location. This was also a possibility, but if this were the case and someone actually knew where they were, this would most likely involve the people who tried to kill them. Secondly, the weather could form a problem. The plane could provide them with shelter if needed, but if they decided to leave they would be forced to spend the nights in the open air. According to the time they had spent in the air and assuming they had flown in a south or south-east direction, the CSI's were able to determine the approximate area they had to be in including its climate. Mid September probably meant an average of 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the nights could turn out to be colder, hypothermia wasn't their main concern. Rain or storms on the other hand could indeed cause some trouble without shelter and in the worst case ultimately lead to hypothermia nonetheless.

The minibar contained six cans of soda and three bottles of water, enough for the two CSI's to last at least a few days. After that point, they would have to find another water source or they would slowly suffer the effects of dehydration. Meanwhile, their food supply formed another issue. Although they would be able to last longer without food than without water, they had a small amount of three remaining protein bars and one sandwich left. This partly due to Eric who had consumed a sandwich and the other three protein bars while Calleigh was asleep, considering it his lunch. Although it would've been a fair share to give their remaining food supply to Calleigh because this automatically left her with an empty stomach, they both agreed that it was a much wiser decision to preserve their small food stock for now.

Eric was pretty convinced that they should go with option two. Staying here wasn't in their favor in any way. The only real disadvantage would be the fact that they wouldn't have shelter and that they couldn't bring all their luggage. Luckily for Eric, he brought a backpack instead of Calleigh's perfecly white suitcase. After considering all of the pros and cons the petite blonde agreed with him, sitting here and doing nothing wasn't really their style.

'We should bury him,' Calleigh said, while she looked at Richard's body which was still at the same spot behind the steering wheel. Eric silently nodded and put down his half empty backpack. Together they managed to get him out of the dented cockpit only to come to the conclusion that they didn't have any tools to bury him with. The two CSI's agreed that leaving the body outside would most likely result in predators eating it, so they decided to place it in the cabin. This way, it would be protected from animals and the elements and they would be able to relocate the corpse and bring it back to a morgue to perform an autopsy. Somehow the CSI's suspected he didn't die of natural causes.

The two went back to packing and while deciding what to take with them and what to leave behind, Calleigh's eyes fell on the third and much smaller bag which lay untouched on the ground near her own suitcase. Suddenly, it all made sense. Their whole situation made sense. It was like Calleigh's mind flipped a switch and everything fell into place. She looked up at Eric, who was still sorting the items from his own backpack and mentioned the connection they had both completely overlooked.

'It's the evidence!' She said out loud, confusing Eric for a split second before the realization hit him too. It had been there the whole time, literally right in front of their noses. The only motive for someone to want their plane to crash, they took the evidence with them. The small gray bag filled with the only thing that could pin Steve to this murder. 'We took it with us and Steve knew that,' Calleigh spoke. Eric expression began to show signs of confusion, 'But if Steve's behind this then how the hell did he do it? I mean, we called MPD as soon as you found the knife, he must've had help,' he said. 'Yeah, but how did he manage to contact his accomplices before we took off? It makes no sense...' The blonde reacted, 'on the other hand, we have no idea what happened to him while MPD had him in custody, for all we know they left him alone for a short moment. Maybe a second was all he needed to contact someone somehow.' Eric looked at her with a meaningful expression, 'we took off about three hours after his arrest,' he pulled up one eyebrow, 'plenty of time to cause a plane to crash.'

 **Ooooh motive... ;)**

 **Thanks for reading! Reviews would be highly appreciated!**


	5. 4 Stars and silence

**I'm not even gonna try and come up with an excuse cuz I simply ain't got one. I'm just a horrible uploader. And inspiration comes and goes. Thanks to everyone who's still sticking with me! ;)  
**

Completely packed and organised, with Eric carrying the backpack the CSI's had left the crash site and walked in what they suspected to be south. Not entirely certain but judging from the sun they were heading in a presumably southern direction.

About four hours later their main compass tool started to disappear behind the treeline. Calleigh presumed it to be somewhere between 8 and 9 'o clock, so she suspected Horatio to soon find out the two CSI's were missing.

'You ready to take a break yet?' Calleigh asked Eric. Normally Calleigh wasn't the kind of person to show weakness, but since she hadn't eaten anything for the past 12 hours her body started to feel limp and she knew she had to sit down. And besides, they had to set up their camp for the night anyway.

'You okay, Cal?' Eric looked at her a little concerned. Not because she asked to stop, but because her skin started to look deadly pale. They had been walking for hours and she hadn't suggested taking a break once. 'I'm fine, Eric, just need to sit down for a minute,' she answered, positioning her body against a tree. Eric nodded, knowing that Calleigh wouldn't admit it if she felt bad anyway. 'You need to eat something,' the tall Cuban said, and before she could protest and give him a speech about saving their small amount of food he placed an energy bar in her hand. Calleigh knew she needed some fuel and gave him a thankful look. 'You should eat something too,' she said, but Eric shook his head. 'I've had a pretty solid lunch unlike you, so I'll be fine.' Calleigh knew that arguing wouldn't help him change his mind so she remained silent and gratefully took a bite of the bar. She knew he was right, she needed to eat, but saving their food seemed like a considered decision to her and she was pretty positive Eric shared that opinion. 'I'll set up camp,' he said, smiling slightly satisfied that he made always stubborn Calleigh eat something.

There wasn't much camp to set up though. Besides a blanket and a parachute the plane contained nothing useful for the two to take with them. The parachute could be used as some sort of shelter or subsoil to prevent rain or dew from competely soaking the CSI's and their stuff. And the blanket, well, lets hope they both fit under it. As Calleigh had pointed out before, around this time of the year the temperature could easily drop to 40 degrees at night. Without some warmth it could indeed get dangerous.

Within half an hour the sun had completely vanished behind the trees. Eric had managed to create a steady campfire and the two were gratefully warming their sore bodies in silence untill Calleigh shivered.

'You cold Cal?' Eric asked, immediately worried about his best friend and former girlfriend. 'I'm fine, Eric, Really. It's just a breeze.' Calleigh tried to put down his worry. Sometimes Eric could be a little overprotective, but the fact that he cared so much also made him admirable. She had to admit, it was kinda cute.

'How's your head?' Calleigh obviously changed the subject. Eric looked at her with an "are you serious? I'm obviously fine"-kind of expression. 'I'm fine, headache is gone.' He said, trying to hide his vulnerability. Calleigh chuckled, 'I'm sure you are.' She said, well aware of the fact that if he did have a headache, he wouldn't tell her anyway. Eric grinned. He knew she looked right through him, she always had.

'We should sleep, we'll probably have a whole journey before us tomorrow.'

Calleigh agreed and they both laid down on the large parachute. 'You can have the blanket.' Eric said and Calleigh knew there was no point in arguing with him about that so she didn't try to. 'Thanks Eric.' She said, 'good night.'

'Good night, Cal.' Eric returned while Calleigh turned her back to him and positioned herself on her side. He put his arms under his head and watched the stars while he laid on his back. The stars were never this bright and visible in Miami. They almost weren't visible at all because of the bright light the city always projects into the sky. A city that never sleeps. Whatever place they were stranded now was the complete opposite of that. Eric wondered if he had ever seen the stars this bright before. Maybe once when he was younger, although if so, he must've been a lot younger because he couldn't remember it.

Eric looked to his side and noticed Calleigh's slow, steady breathing. He wasn't surprised she had fallen asleep this fast, this day had been exhausting for him too. The blonde had rolled on her back so he could now see her face from the side. He studied her refined facial features and not for the first time his day, his mind started drifting of to what could've been. To what their lives would've been like if they hadn't broken up. Eric had suppressed his feelings for some time now, and to be honest, he couldn't really tell how he currently felt about his beautiful colleague. He knew their on and off relationship didn't make her happy but sometimes he did wonder why they broke up in the first place. Although they had remained great friends, after their definitive break up, an invincible barrier of suppressed feelings had developed between the two. Because those feelings were obviously still there but they couldn't act on them anymore. Eric just wished he could break that barrier without hurting her.

 **I suddenly felt inspired to continue this story :D Even though it's 1am and I got school tomorrow.**


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